chronicles of eden - act I (104 page)

"Where was it, Luna, where did you feel him touch your wing?" Alyssa asked urgently. Luna looked over to Alyssa then pointed to her left bottom wing segment.

"Right there, it scared the hell out of me," she whined. Triska growled then shook Luna by the shoulders.

"She means where in the cabin did you feel him touching your wing, where was he?" Triska yelled out with frustration. Luna nodded fearfully then quickly scrambled around on her hands and knees, patting around franticly as she searched towards the back wall.

"I don't know, it… it was over here I think?" she said nervously. The nightmare floated over towards the entrance of the cabin, letting out a ghostly wail as it glared at the girls.

"Hurry and find him, we're running out of time!" Triska shouted out as she and Specca started patting around franticly inside the cabin, both working their way towards the back wall while the others watched with anxious eyes.

"I can't see anything in here, it's too dark," Specca said while searching for the hidden boy.

"Just find him, hurry!" Alyssa yelled out looking back to the nightmare before over to the girls again. Luna searched around hastily then jumped in surprise as her hand touched something that couldn't be seen.

"Wait, I found him! He's here, he's over here!" she called out with a bright smile. The other girls rushed over to her as the nightmare slowly started to enter the cabin, the monster's body partially phasing through the floor as it wailed quietly at them.

"Daniel? Daniel!" Triska cried out as she ran her hands franticly across something that wasn't there in plain sight, the body of a human that was lying on the floor near the back wall.

"It's him, it's him it's him it's him!" Alyssa cheered as she patted down the boy's leg.

"Here's his arm, and his shoulder," Specca exclaimed as she felt along the boy's shirt up to his collar.

"Here's his chest, he's still breathing!" Triska called out with renewed hope as she could make out his chest moving up and down gently with each breath under his shirts.

"Here's his pants, and his…" Falla said as she felt along the boy's pants, right up to something that she immediately took notice of. The other girls all looked over to her as she licked her lips slowly, her hand gently gripping something as she smiled slightly.

"Um, are we sure he's having a nightmare? Because he seems pretty har-" Falla started before she was thrown back into the wall by a magical force, coughing out on impact before slumping down while Alyssa had her hand held out towards her.

"Thank you, Falla, we can take it from here," Alyssa quipped through her teeth. She looked back down to the invisible boy as she set her staff down, then held both her hands to his chest, her eyes glowing purple as a few rings of light appeared on the floor.

"Hey, what's the big idea, what was… that… for…" Falla grunted with annoyance, trailing off as she watched with wonder. Alyssa focused her magic, her hands glowing brightly as the circles below formed into strange and erratic symbols.

"You won't hide him from us," Alyssa declared firmly as the lights from the symbols shifted around, brightening up erratically while the girls all watched with hopeful eyes. Slowly Daniel's body started to appear from trails of light running along his arms and legs, his chest and head gradually becoming visible in a faint outline as dark streaks of light rippled away and dissolved with short hisses. Alyssa showed a focused expression as a pulse of light shot out from her hands, spreading over Daniel's body and lighting it up brightly. The group shielded their eyes as a veil of black haze shattered around Daniel, followed by a flash of light. Alyssa breathed out as the light faded, with the glowing circles on the floor remaining while they started to slowly fade away. The girls all looked back down to him as he became fully visible then gasped, with Triska showing a frightful expression as they saw his shadowy spectral image above him, its face showing a heartbroken expression.

"No… no! Daniel!" Alyssa cried out.

"It's taking his soul!" Specca screamed as she and Squeak stared at the spectral image with fearful eyes. Falla and Luna watched the image waver slightly above Daniel's body while Triska looked down to him with fright.

"DANIEL!"

*****

Daniel was standing out in the open plains, the sky above being dark and cloudy while all around were thick veils of mist drifting about. His expression was of disbelief and sorrow as he saw three monster girls glaring at him with anger.

"You lied to me, you were never going to consider me," Alyssa said through bared teeth, her eyes having a few tears dropping from them as she choked back her sobs.

"You just wanted to use me, like a walking library, how could you?" Specca shouted out, crying behind her glasses as she trembled with frustration.

Squeak merely squeaked something at Daniel with discontent, her eyes watering up as she clenched her fists in anger.

"No, that's not true, how could you all think that?" Daniel pleaded as he shook his head worriedly.

"You just used me to get a free ride out here; you were never going to mate with me at all, were you?" Alyssa yelled out accusingly.

"You just said you'd consider me so I'd be your guide, you used me like a tool. I trusted you!" Specca shouted out.

Squeak waved her hand around threateningly, squeaking at Daniel with stern and sharp squeaks while she raged about something in her own language.

"That's not true; I didn't use you at all. And I was telling the truth when I said I'd consider you, that wasn't a lie," Daniel pleaded, reaching out for them with sorrowful eyes.

"Shut up! I can't believe I fell for your lies, letting a mere human use me like this," Alyssa scoffed as she turned to walk away.

"I used to think humans were wonderful creatures, now I see they're nothing but real monsters," Specca whimpered, turning around to walk away as well.

Squeak merely squeaked something with a few tears dropping from her face, and then turned to walk away while squeaking quietly to herself.

"No! Alyssa, Specca, Squeak! Please, come back, that's not true, I never lied to you!" Daniel called out as the girls vanished into the mist. He ran after them, looking around franticly as the endless fields of haze drifted around him.

"Alyssa! Specca! Squeak! Please don't go, please!" he called out.

"How could you?" Triska said from behind, her voice strained and shaky. Daniel looked back to seeing Triska standing behind him, looking at him with teary eyes.

"How could you ever choose a monster over me? How could you even think about choosing a goddamned monster over me?" she yelled out at him with frustration.

"Triska…" he said, turning back to face her with worry.

"Are you happy now, Daniel? Did you prove your point? I hope you're satisfied with yourself, you dragged us both out here for nothing!" Triska shouted out with anger.

*****

"Wake up, Daniel, it's not real, nothing you're seeing is real!" Triska cried out, shaking Daniel by the shoulders franticly.

"Don't let it scare you, Daniel, it's not real!" Alyssa yelled as she shook the boy's arm.

"Whatever you're seeing is an illusion, it's just a dream! Wake up!" Specca cried out as she tried shaking his shoulder. The other girls watched as Daniel's spectral image showed a heartbroken expression, shaking its head slowly as it stared ahead at something.

*****

Triska slowly walked towards Daniel, sobbing with a devastated expression as Daniel watched her with concern.

"You had us come out all this way, and for what? Face it, Daniel, humans and monsters are
never
going to coexist like you dreamed of, it's never going to happen!" she shouted out.

"Triska… you can't mean that, I thought you believed in me as well," Daniel said shaking his head with disbelief.

"I did, and I was a fool to trust you! I can't believe I let you trick me like this, everyone in the village was right about you! You're out of your mind, blind to the world around you. I nearly got raped by a succubus because of you, and for what? Because you think you can
talk
to these things, and that they'll just
listen
to you?" Triska demanded with frustration.

"But… Alyssa, Specca, and Squeak…" Daniel said worriedly.

"They're gone, Daniel, they left us out in the middle of nowhere! They were never going to help us; they just wanted you because you've got a penis! How can you be so blind, they just wanted to use you to breed with, just like all monsters do!" Triska yelled out with anger.

"No, they wouldn't, they're not like that…" Daniel defended softly.

"Yes they are! They just wanted to hump you, Daniel! Why else would they have come along with us? To help us? To help us find monsters that wanted to be our
allies
? Wake up and face the world for how it is, Daniel, that's never going to happen!" Triska raged while glaring at him.

"No, you're wrong, that's not how it has to be," Daniel said shaking his head. Triska looked at him anger and frustration, her hand slowly reaching back towards her sword.

"I wasted my life believing in you, trusting you, following you out here. You're going to be the death of me and all those you drag down with you in this suicidal crusade of yours," she growled, grabbing her sword and slowly pulling it out.

"Triska, what are you doing?" he asked fearfully as the girl kept walking towards him, with him backing up nervously as she glared at him with her sword in hand.

"My mother was right, nothing good could have come from you or your beliefs," she said coldly, her eyes showing no warmth or kindness in them.

*****

"Daniel! Daniel, please, wake up!" Triska screamed into Daniel's ear, franticly shaking him while the other girls watched with fearful eyes. His spectral image wavered slightly above his body as it showed a frightened expression.

"It's not real, whatever you're seeing it's not real!" Triska cried out as she desperately tried to wake him up.

"Please, Daniel, you have to wake up! Don't leave us!" Alyssa cried out, tears falling from her face as she kept shaking his arm.

"You promised to knock me up; you can't do that if you're dead! You promised!" Falla shouted while shaking his leg. The other girls didn't even bother glancing to her or commenting on her single-minded concern, instead they all kept watching with worried eyes as Daniel remained motionless while his spectral image was showing a frightful expression.

"No, not like this, he can't be taken away like this," Specca shakily whimpered while watching the spectral image over Daniel. Squeak shook Daniel by the shoulder and squeaked loudly into his other ear, trying again and again to reach him in his dream. She then looked back and jumped with a loud squeak as the nightmare floated into the cabin, the monster phasing partially through the ceiling above so that most of its tail was sticking out above the caravan. The other girls looked up to see it suspended above Daniel, the monster watching the spectral image of the boy with a cold smile.

"No! Leave him alone, get away from him!" Specca cried out as she franticly flailed her hands around at the nightmare. The monster's image distorted and parted around her hands with black clouds of smoke, then reformed again while keeping its eyes locked onto its prey.

"You monster, you can't take him from me!" Triska yelled before she swung up with her sword, the blade sifting right through the ethereal monster and whacking into the ceiling. The nightmare reformed again from being cut across the shoulder and chest, not being distracted in the least as it let out a ghostly moan while holding a hand out towards Daniel.

"Daniel! Daniel, wake up, wake up!" Alyssa cried out into Daniel's ear.

*****

"Triska, stop," Daniel pleaded as Triska glared at him, the girl slowly moving towards him as the mist around them started to turn red. The sky above shifted to a dark night while the ground below them became dead and lifeless, the grass seeming to dissolve into ashes before drifting away in the breeze.

"I hate you…" Triska growled.

*****

"Daniel! You have to wake up! Please!" Triska cried out, watching the nightmare above smiling coldly down at the spectral image of Daniel. Triska shook her head and looked back down to Daniel, quickly clinging onto him for dear life.

"Daniel!" she screamed, holding onto him as the nightmare above continued to stare down at its victim.

*****

"Triska, you can't mean that…" Daniel said with disbelief, seeing Triska's cold glare as she geared back with her sword. Her eyes showed pure rage as she clenched her blade's handle, her teeth bared slightly as she stepped closer.

"That kitsune should have left you for dead, saving your life was a horrible mistake," she hissed. Daniel stared at her with shock as a cold feeling started to etch into his heart, his body feeling heavier as he struggled to breathe properly.

"Triska…" he said quietly, his voice shaky while the world around started to turn to a deep crimson.

*****

The girls watched as the spectral image's expression became of sorrow and disbelief, wavering slightly while the nightmare above let out a ghostly moan.

"No… Daniel… Daniel!" Alyssa cried out with wide eyes.

*****

Daniel backed another step as the ground below became barren and parched, appearing to lose all life as the mist around became a darker shade of crimson. The sky above held no stars, only pitch darkness seen overhead as Triska's blade cast a soft red bloom from the surrounding haze.

"Triska… not you too," Daniel breathed out with sorrow.

In a flash Triska lunged towards him with a forward thrust, followed by her furious yell that echoed out into the surrounding unseen.

*****

Daniel’s spectral image jerked about slightly, showing a shocked expression, before slowly falling limp as all the girls stared with horror at the sight. The image wavered slightly as the nightmare above let out a ghostly wail.

“No… he can’t… he… no!” Specca cried out. Triska shakily sat up and stared with teary eyes at Daniel’s image which was no longer moving, its eyes slowly closing as its head started to hang down.